martinez



(No Model.)

MAT.

. .No. 284,567.- Patented Sept. 4, 1883.v

0 0 O O 0 Q C 0 FT w y J O U 0 Q 0 O O D Q 37 FT 0 O O O O O Q C O O 0 OO 0 I 0 C NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAFAEL MARTINEZ, OF NEW YORK, N. ASSIGNOR T EMIL GUTMANN AND HENRYGOODMAN, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

M AT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 284,567, datedSeptember 4, 1883.

Application filed July 24, 1883. (No model.)

To to whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAFAEL MARTINEZ, a subject of the King of Spain,residing at New York city, in the county and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mats for use on Floors,of which the following is a specification.

My improvement applies to that class of mats in which a number of barsor rods of wood or analogous material are secured together so as to beheld in parallel positions.

I have in my experiments used round bars of wood connected by flexiblehinges, so that the mats can be rolled up for storage or transportation.I have devised means for engaging the rods properly together, whichholds them strongly in positions for use or allows them to be easilydisengaged by bringing the parts into certain positions relatively toeach other. In brief, I employ hooks to engage the rods together. Two ormore of my mats thus formed may be engaged together by engaging thehooks which come at the edges. I have devised further means for engagingthe edges of separate mats, which I esteem generally preferable, andwill be described far. ther on.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, andrepresent. what I con 0 sider thebest means of carrying out theinvention.

Figure 1 is a plan view showing two of my mats attached together. Theremaining figures areon a largerscale. Fig. 2 is a plan 5 view ofcertain portions. Fig. 3 is a corresponding cross-section. Fig. 4. is across-section in a different plane, showing more clearly the provisionsfor engaging the edges of two mats. Fig. 5 is a cross-section showingthe 40 means of joining together the individual bars of a mat.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures where they occur.

A A are the parallel rods, E are metallic caps fitted 011 the ends, andE are metallic rings or ferrules fitted at intermediate points betweenthe ends.

H are hooks fixed in the caps E, and also in the ferrules, arranged toengage each with the corresponding hook in the adjacent cap or ferrule.The caps and ferrules are set firmly in position ontheir respective rodsand held by nails or screws 0, Fig. 1. WVhen the rods, with their capsand ferrules, are in position for 5 5 use, with the hooks engaged, theyare strongly secured by the hooks in positions, each parallel to itsneighbor. The mat may be rolled in one direction without risking thedisengagement of the hooks; but on turning the parts in the opposite.direction and imparting a proper force the hooks may be disengaged andthe mats separated from each other at pleasure.

I can employ these hooks H to engage the edge rod of one mat with acorresponding edge rod of an adjacent mat, and thusto make two mats intoone at pleasure. Two mats thus united will be absolutely uniform inappearance and construction throughout. I propose 7o to separate a longmat into as many small mats as may be desired by disengaging the. hooksH at certain points. I propose to engage together small mats, so as tomake one long one at will by engaging the hooksH.

I have devised additional means of engaging the edge slats of two mats.Some may prefer to have the edges of the mats as smooth as possible byavoiding the projecting hooks HI I can attain this by previouslydetermining a certain size for the small mats and for the edge slatsthereof, providing only one hook on each cap E and one hook 011 eachfer= rule E. This will suffice to engage the edge slat with the adjacentslat in its proper mat. 8 5 \Vhen it is desired to engage two or anyother number of such mats together, I can make available certain furtherhooks or bent portions, as follows:

X are loose rings encircling the edge slat of 0 two mats, with capacityfor being turned around, but not for being moved endwise thereon. Eachis formed with an arm, X, having a bent portion, X the curvature of lwhich latter is on a radius just sufficient to 9 5 embrace one of theslats of the mat. \Vhen this device is not in use it may be turned under the adjacent slat in its own mat, as indicated at the right and lefthand'sides in Fig.

4. In this position the devices X are simply IOO 1 may be increased ordiminished.

kept out of the way. They performno useful function, but they are readyto serve i11- stantly when required.

When it is desired to join two such mats to cause them to serve as one,the devices X arev turned into the position shown in the central portionof Fig. 4, so that the curved portion X of each mat engages with theedge slat of the adjacent mat. The dotted lines show them only partiallyengaged. The strong lines show them fully engaged for use.

Modifications may be made in the forms and proportions. Ihave in Filshown two caps E and two ferrules E, each with their engaging-hooks H.The number of ferrules E The caps E may be omitted and ferrules similarto E may be substituted, applied at or near the ends of the slats. Ihavein Fig. 1 shown four of the engaging devices X. They will beunderstood as attached, two to the right-hand mat and two to theleft-hand mat. The number of these engaging devices may be in creased. Aless number may serve.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a mat, the combination, with the slats A,caps E, and ferrules E, of the hooks H, formed and arranged to servesubstantially as herein specified.

2. In a mat having parallel bars A and suitable joining means, as H, therings X, arms X, p

